FX is a wonderful and powerful step up from MC effects in many cases. And FX works as a plug-in directly from the MC timeline and is subsequently rendered on the MC timeline.

AND FX can also be launched as a separate application.

Can FX effects created in the stand-alone version--say, a composite with several layers together--be imported into MC in any way??? Or, only gotten into MC as a plug-in effect???

I see that FX has export options that include AVI-VFW, Targa Image Sequence and AVI-Direct Show. But they don't import into MC. Nor do the Boris native .red files.

The goal is to have a rendered or exported version of the composite that does not require re-rendering if it is moved on the timeline. That is, a multi-level composite can take some time to render on the timeline and, if it is moved, for example, it requires re-rendering.

If I understand the situation correctly, this re-rendering is required because it is considered by MC to be a composite which by nature depends upon its immediate context on the timeline. So if it is changed then the render must be updated.

OK for small things but as the FX composites get more complex it takes, of course, more time and the goal is to find a way to "consolidate" or otherwise create a clip that does not require further rendering. And also to re-use this composite as a "module" within a more complex FX composite without requiring FX to deal with all of the original composite layers and the concomitant CPU time.